Big Bill gets touchy after latest KP list
By RANDY GALLOWAY
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
We heard all sides of Big Bill at Valley Ranch on Wednesday.
The funny? That was the QBS stuff. Quarterback Situation, not ever to be confused with a full-blown QBC (Quarterback Controversy).
But for anyone who says Parcells is defusing this QBS, listen again. It was a good laugh, however.
And Big Bill was also hard. Finally told us up front what we already knew he thought. Drew Henson is KP. Kan't Play.
Good luck to Henson, as he's now moving on. It will be interesting to see what another NFL team does with the kid. But this was the best day of Henson's brief NFL life, to escape Parcells.
Plus, Big Bill was also touchy. Very touchy.
Are you thinking this was about Eldorado Owens and the continuing saga of the mysterious hamstring?
Absolutely not. As always, Parcells was calm when reaching into that sack of snakes.
Bill would have been better off if his answers had stopped at funny, hard and calm.
When he got touchy, he quit making sense.
One of the roster cuts announced Wednesday was the expected walking papers for third-year offensive guard Stephen Peterman.
He was a bust; we knew that. So was the second-round pick in that same '04 draft, Jacob Rogers, who was released a year ago.
Both are a huge smudge in what we hoped would be an area of expertise for Parcells, meaning the draft.
If there was anything the Cowboys needed to accomplish under Parcells' watch, it was an upgrade of this area.
Continued draft disasters over the years basically wrecked the organization.
Jerry Jones now admits the obvious.
Look at the defensive side of the ball, and drafts under Parcells have been excellent, a direct reflection on the current strength of that unit.
But as the Cowboys continue to be draft heavy on the defense, they have allowed the offense to slide. And this starts on the offensive line, which should be where Parcells excels, the same as defense. Those are his peanut butter and jelly areas.
Bill, however, got his back up when the obvious questions started coming on Peterman, and on blowing two Saturday picks (first three rounds) three drafts ago.
Rogers and Peterman, or at least one of them, should be offensive line starters right now.
Whiff on both, and it's a double blunder.
But in don't-start-with-me tones, Parcells went touchy.
"Let me tell you something, fellas, you can forget about that because it doesn't affect me one way or the other," he said. "I'm in the talent acquisition business."
And then Parcells started reeling off some late-round surprises, including an offensive lineman or two. But on defense, yes, there have been excellent grab-bag pickups. The same can't be said for the offensive line.
"There are a couple of disappointments," Parcells said, "but while you are throwing those in there be sure to mention the ones here that play well, and how we got them."
No, Bill. We're talking about the offensive line.
It's currently the team's weakest link, by far. For this season to be a success, that will have to change. Will it? That's the hanging curveball of a question surrounding the Cowboys.
To consistently fail with high-round offensive linemen damages the process.
But Parcells' answer to that was:
"No, it's not fair to say that anymore than it's fair to say you expect a sixth or seventh rounder to be anything. It doesn't make any difference where you took them if they're good players."
Well, it makes a big difference to Jerry Jones' hip-pocket.
But if the Cowboys, under Parcells, had acquired offensive linemen who could erase a Peterman or Rogers mistake, then Big Bill would hold the hammer in this argument.
At the moment, he's got no hammer.
Al Johnson, taken in the second round of Parcells' first draft, is currently the backup center. Four years later, that's also not acceptable.
Say this for the current state of the offensive line, and it goes back to an Oxnard theory mentioned here earlier:
In two exhibition games, the OL has performed much better than in practice field work against its own defense. Which, to some, says the Cow defense is so good, it makes the OL look worse than it is.
At least that theory is worth watching.
Meanwhile, Parcells is also extremely high on a couple of "finds," one of them guard Cory Procter, signed last season off the Lions' practice squad. Put this year's seventh-round pick, Pat McQuistan, in the same category.
At the moment, however, Big Bill has no "talent acquisition" argument when it comes to the offensive line.
And there was no reason to be touchy about Peterman and Rogers.
Just be honest. The Cowboys flat blew it on a couple of blutos three drafts ago. And it happened on Bill's watch.
Over and out. Move on.
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
We heard all sides of Big Bill at Valley Ranch on Wednesday.
The funny? That was the QBS stuff. Quarterback Situation, not ever to be confused with a full-blown QBC (Quarterback Controversy).
But for anyone who says Parcells is defusing this QBS, listen again. It was a good laugh, however.
And Big Bill was also hard. Finally told us up front what we already knew he thought. Drew Henson is KP. Kan't Play.
Good luck to Henson, as he's now moving on. It will be interesting to see what another NFL team does with the kid. But this was the best day of Henson's brief NFL life, to escape Parcells.
Plus, Big Bill was also touchy. Very touchy.
Are you thinking this was about Eldorado Owens and the continuing saga of the mysterious hamstring?
Absolutely not. As always, Parcells was calm when reaching into that sack of snakes.
Bill would have been better off if his answers had stopped at funny, hard and calm.
When he got touchy, he quit making sense.
One of the roster cuts announced Wednesday was the expected walking papers for third-year offensive guard Stephen Peterman.
He was a bust; we knew that. So was the second-round pick in that same '04 draft, Jacob Rogers, who was released a year ago.
Both are a huge smudge in what we hoped would be an area of expertise for Parcells, meaning the draft.
If there was anything the Cowboys needed to accomplish under Parcells' watch, it was an upgrade of this area.
Continued draft disasters over the years basically wrecked the organization.
Jerry Jones now admits the obvious.
Look at the defensive side of the ball, and drafts under Parcells have been excellent, a direct reflection on the current strength of that unit.
But as the Cowboys continue to be draft heavy on the defense, they have allowed the offense to slide. And this starts on the offensive line, which should be where Parcells excels, the same as defense. Those are his peanut butter and jelly areas.
Bill, however, got his back up when the obvious questions started coming on Peterman, and on blowing two Saturday picks (first three rounds) three drafts ago.
Rogers and Peterman, or at least one of them, should be offensive line starters right now.
Whiff on both, and it's a double blunder.
But in don't-start-with-me tones, Parcells went touchy.
"Let me tell you something, fellas, you can forget about that because it doesn't affect me one way or the other," he said. "I'm in the talent acquisition business."
And then Parcells started reeling off some late-round surprises, including an offensive lineman or two. But on defense, yes, there have been excellent grab-bag pickups. The same can't be said for the offensive line.
"There are a couple of disappointments," Parcells said, "but while you are throwing those in there be sure to mention the ones here that play well, and how we got them."
No, Bill. We're talking about the offensive line.
It's currently the team's weakest link, by far. For this season to be a success, that will have to change. Will it? That's the hanging curveball of a question surrounding the Cowboys.
To consistently fail with high-round offensive linemen damages the process.
But Parcells' answer to that was:
"No, it's not fair to say that anymore than it's fair to say you expect a sixth or seventh rounder to be anything. It doesn't make any difference where you took them if they're good players."
Well, it makes a big difference to Jerry Jones' hip-pocket.
But if the Cowboys, under Parcells, had acquired offensive linemen who could erase a Peterman or Rogers mistake, then Big Bill would hold the hammer in this argument.
At the moment, he's got no hammer.
Al Johnson, taken in the second round of Parcells' first draft, is currently the backup center. Four years later, that's also not acceptable.
Say this for the current state of the offensive line, and it goes back to an Oxnard theory mentioned here earlier:
In two exhibition games, the OL has performed much better than in practice field work against its own defense. Which, to some, says the Cow defense is so good, it makes the OL look worse than it is.
At least that theory is worth watching.
Meanwhile, Parcells is also extremely high on a couple of "finds," one of them guard Cory Procter, signed last season off the Lions' practice squad. Put this year's seventh-round pick, Pat McQuistan, in the same category.
At the moment, however, Big Bill has no "talent acquisition" argument when it comes to the offensive line.
And there was no reason to be touchy about Peterman and Rogers.
Just be honest. The Cowboys flat blew it on a couple of blutos three drafts ago. And it happened on Bill's watch.
Over and out. Move on.
posted by The Gryphon at 9:50 AM
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